There is a very large, and still rapidly growing, demand for wireless communication services today. Mobile telephone services are used to a very large extent, e.g. for telephone conversations and text messages. Also, high speed wireless communication is used for a large number of applications, such as internet browsing, streaming of music, films and/or television, and the like.
Since the demand for wireless communication services is very high, and the end users expect the wireless services to be available essentially everywhere they go, the wireless communication system coverage must cover very large geographical areas, both indoors and outdoors, and also provide high bitrates in these areas.
Traditionally, radio base stations, such as Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) and/or NodeBs and/or eNodeBs, hereinafter called Remote Unit Controllers (RUC), are typically located very close to a tower comprising one or more tower-mounted antennas. Said RUCs are provided with all the circuitry necessary for sending and receiving the wireless communication signals to and from the mobile equipments connecting to it, such as Mobile Stations (MS) or User Equipments (UEs). The radio base stations have typically been arranged in cells. The traditional radio base stations include both the circuitry to receive and transmit signals from and to a core network and to receive and transmit signals from and to the one or more antennas, including radio frequency (RF) circuits and power amplifiers.
However, since the end users nowadays expect the high speed wireless communication services, such as mobile telecommunication services, wireless fidelity networks (WiFi), and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), to be available essentially everywhere, it would be very costly to build traditional radio base stations at every site where coverage and high bitrates are needed. Also, in indoor locations, such as in malls, railway tunnels, road tunnels, restaurants, café s, airports, conference centers, tunnels, stadiums and exhibition halls, the traditional radio base station concept results in poor service coverage and bitrates.
Further, such systems have to be installed, maintained, monitored and controlled. Also, each one of these systems have to be provided with power supplies, distribution networks, locations for mounting radio base stations, control units and antenna arrangements. Thus, to provide sufficient coverage and bitrates today is very costly, and it is also very work and time consuming to monitor and maintain all of these different systems.